People in the News
Dittrich Appointed Area Vice President of Gran Melia Hotels and Resorts America and Caribbean
In December 2007, Guy Hensley, senior vice president of premium brands for Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts, announced the appointment of Ken D. Dittrich as the new area vice president of Gran Melia Hotels and Resorts in the Americas and Caribbean for Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts.
Dittrich, who will be based in Puerto Rico, is responsible for directing, supporting, and overseeing all aspects of the Gran Meliá hotel portfolio in the Caribbean and the Americas, as well as assist with and oversee openings and conversions.
Executive and operational matters for Gran Melia Puerto Rico Golf Resort & Villas will remain under Dittrich’s jurisdiction.
“I am very excited about this opportunity, which opens up a new chapter for the company on a positive, global scale,” said Dittrich. “Our main objective is to define the value of the brand and its attributes while increasing its presence and profitability in the Americas and Caribbean.”
Prior to his appointment, Dittrich was the managing director of Paradisus Puerto Rico, which was re-flagged into Sol Melia’s most luxurious EP brand—Gran Melia Puerto Rico Golf Resort & Villas in May 2007. He was also the managing director of Paradisus Rivera Cancun in Mexico, a deluxe all-inclusive that established a new era in the five-star resort segment.
At Paradisus Riviera Cancun, Dittrich introduced programs of international, five-star resort excellence, superior service, The Leading Hotels of the World distinction and an innovative and progressive management style.
Dittrich graduated in Hotel Management from the Hotel and Catering School in Germany. He obtained a hotel business administration degree at the Frankfurt and Heidelberg Hotel School in Germany. He is a member of the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association.
Lisa Hamilton, director of sales and marketing at Frenchman’s Reef and Morning Star Marriott Resorts in St. Thomas, has been tapped as the new president of the U.S. Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association (HTA). The position had been vacant since August 2007 when hotelier Rik Blythe resigned the post. Prior to Blythe, Beverly Nicholson, the USVI’s commissioner of tourism, had headed the association for several years. Hamilton has served on the board of directors of the HTA and chaired both the membership and marketing committees.
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